Posted on 02/09/2016 11:59:06 AM PST by BenLurkin
Bardeen and his colleagues modeled what would happen to Earth's climate if a 0.6-mile-wide (1 kilometer) space rock plowed into one of the planet's landmasses. Such an impact would probably gouge out a crater about 9 miles (15 km) wide, throw huge amounts of dust into the atmosphere and trigger large-scale fires that lofted lots of soot into the air, provided the strike didn't occur in a desert area with little vegetation, Bardeen said.
The material lofted after this hypothetical asteroid strike would stay in the atmosphere for a long time — about six years in the case of dust and 10 years for soot, according to the researchers' results for the "worst-case scenario" (which assumed widespread fires).
These particles would warm in the sun, heating the stratosphere significantly and speeding up chemical reactions that destroy ozone, which protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Indeed, atmospheric ozone would be temporarily reduced by 55 percent, causing the surface UV index to top 20 in the tropics for several years....
The atmospheric soot and dust would also reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth's surface by up to 70 percent for the first year or two, Bardeen said. As a result, average global surface temperatures would cool by 14.5 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius), "which is about the equivalent of the ice ages,"
...
However, the chances of an asteroid strike with serious global consequences seem remote, at least in the near future.
To date, astronomers have spotted 879 near-Earth asteroids that are at least 0.6 miles wide, and none of them pose an immediate threat. Models suggest that these 879 represent more than 90 percent of the total population of such mountain-size space rocks in Earth's neighborhood, NASA officials have said
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Doesn’t it matter if the meteor is stone or iron?
However, if the meteor was at just the right angle, at the right speed, and has the right composition and mass, it could pass on through the water and into the seafloor ... huge tsunami plus fireball throwing matter into the upper atmosphere.
Funny how that's never accounted for. An ocean strike would also create beaucoup water vapor, a much more potent global warming agent than CO2.
Solve globull warming...
Your arguments are “obtuse”...LOL
actually this is exactly the kind of stuff governments should be doing. The prime reason for the existence of governments is to protect their countries from extinction. We know from geological records that big asteroids and comets have hit the earth. Only now have we progressed to the point to actually be able to do anything about it. If action is taken enough in advance slight nudges of an asteroid could save us from extinction
Just require all airconditioners and refrigerators to use freon again, and sell aerosols with proper propellants. Get those ozone levels back up in no time.
“. Indeed, atmospheric ozone would be temporarily reduced by 55 percent”
Lucifer’s Hammer.
And turn one falling object into two...
” If action is taken enough in advance slight nudges of an asteroid could save us from extinction”
Can I be in charge of asteroid control? I’ll rule the world. Step out of line and I’ll go all Tunguska on your puny city!
Tweaking asteroids can go both ways, away, and toward, Earth. You want to be very cautious of who gets that power.
Footfall.
OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! AGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
“A man’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll get me a drink.”
Very “acute” of you to notice.
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